Maybe you should see why God did that. You might just agree when you understand it better. Should a nation be extinguished that takes their chldren and offers them up to a pagan god by burning them. IS there a case to be made where a naiton is so vile that is must be detroyed? Or is the Nazi regime ok and on what basis do you think it si not ok? The point is an atheist does not have any moral standard to refer to when trying to attack God like this.

And you concept of God misses the point about Jesus. So how does a God that comes down to earth as a man, lives a perfect life, dies for the sins of man, get resurrected and is alive now fit into your view of God?

The Bible contains many stories about God-ordained genocide. Many nations were deemed too sinful to exist and were "extinguished", to use your phraseology. Women and children were not spared, nor even the animals in some cases. Worse than that, young virgin girls were taken as "spoils of war" with God's blessing and ordinance. This is how Israel was originally taken.

God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Following that logic, he is still the same blood-thirsty, murderous tyrant he was 2,000 years ago.

Your reference for morality is the Bible, and the Bible is full of bloodshed that God commanded. You cannot discount the Old Testament; that is a cop-out and obvious denial of how repugnant your deity is. He is "unchanging"... and there are plenty of examples of violence against innocent people even in the New Testament. Jesus said to slay his enemies and lay them at his feet, and people understandably take him literally.

Your source of morality is terrifying. We would be doomed if we decided to emulate the god of the Bible, or any of his favorite humans (King David, Abraham, etc... liars, cheaters, murderers... all considered righteous).

Not to mention that if the 10 commandments were considered as a prioritized list, He sure seemed more worried about himself and your obedience to Him than your behavior which finally pops up about halfway down the list.

The implication being that I can live the most moral life there is following all the tenets, but if I don't get the belief part right, I'm not getting in. Yet, at the same time you could be the most hideous of humans but upon repentance and sincere acceptance and belief, you are in. So what then what is more important to God, obedience to him or your behavior?

I think you're the one who's missing the point Paul - pretending for the sake of argument, that your god is not imaginary, he made up a set of rules, which he CHOSE to do, he made us the way we are, then he punishes us for not obeying the arbitrary rules that he made up.

I have a little ant den outside my front door. I have no desire, despite the fact that I am so large that I can stand within a foot of their den without any of them even being aware of my existence. I have no desire to set rules for them, to punish them if they don't follow my rules, to train them to worship me or set out sacrifices of seeds and grains to appease me - in short, I'm above such petty trivialities, yet your god seems not to be.

If he just wanted entertainment, because he was bored, he could well have set up the earth like my own aquarium, and just watch but make no effort to interfere, but his need - and he definitely has one - is to be worshiped. I, as a Human, am above that - I have no such need - give me a pat on the head once in a while, maybe an "attaboy!" and I'm fine with that.

Your god, as evidenced by his entire performance in the Bible, has some complex mental issues and is in serious need of therapy. Do gods have therapists?

If your mythology about Jesus were accurate - I would consider him to be a real asshole. Here is a god who creates a fiery pit in which most of his sentient creations will burn for eternity because they saw no evidence for his existence; evidence which he specifically chose to hide. I mean he didn't even write a word while he was here, and we are supposed to worship him because he 'gave his life' except he didn't 'give his life' now did he?

I know you have been indoctrinated since childhood into this cult, but I wish you would at least deal honestly with these contradictions.

God does not send you to hell. You do that with your choice. He honors your desire to not be near him. He also lifts his protection from you. What happens after that is to be determined when you get there. The real fire is when you see what you have lost and you then understand what your decision has yielded. What Jesus did was show you the way to God and he intercedes for us. He really did live and he really did die not for him but for you. The evidence of his resurrection and his appearances afterward are plain. The Roman, Greek and Hebrew historians of the 1st century validate what is in the Bible regarding Jesus.

I ask you: If you have evidence presented to you, would you change your mind?

You have plenty of evidence of his goodness. I am sorry fro your confusion and it must have been tough. I left as well my belief and was an atheist most of my adult life until I found that that life was void and had no hope. You are living a life with no hope and it must be gnawing at you. Consider the consequences- if you believe and he is not real - you lose nothing. If he is real and you believe, you gain everything.

Hey, if the invisible skydaddy invented hell, then he is a sick prick. What would your own children need to do to drive you to burn them alive? You could try to justify it by saying it was their choice for being bad - but in the end it would be your choice to impose an infinite punishment for their trivial misbehavior.

Dave, you are obviously new here or you wouldn't be trotting so many unsophisticated, old-hat arguments.

For example, "if you believe and he is not real - you lose nothing. If he is real and you believe, you gain everything," which is just Pascal's wager.

The problem with the wager is that there are other options: Ahura Mazda, Zeus, Vishnu, and a few others. So, you need to provide compelling evidence that the Christian's god not only exists, but is the one to bet on.